Angela Rayner says discussion on trans rights “shouldn’t be debased into a debate”
Angela Rayner said “debate” over transgender rights needs to be taken “away from commentators” as it “debases the serious issues” at hand.
During an appearance on Sky News on 29 March, Kay Burley questioned the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party on whether or not the world has “gone mad” because of people “struggling” to say whether or not a woman can have a penis.
Her question followed Sir Keir Starmer declining to answer the question during a radio interview a day earlier. “This really upsets me because I think about a young person who’s struggling at the moment, who’s struggling with their identity, and when we’re having a social media or a debate around whether someone’s, what genetalia someone’s got, I think it really debases the serious issues that people face in their lives,” Rayner told Burley. “There [are] protections for women and women that are in vulnerable situations, and we should also be looking after our young people who may be facing identity crises and making sure they get the help and support they need.
When we debase it to whether or not what genetalia you’ve got, I think all that does is damage people and it doesn’t help us go forward on some of the real issues that people are facing.” Trans rights are often the source of a so-called “debate” in the media, particularly when it comes to topics like self-ID.
